Ep. 10.66.1Quaestiō ista, quae pertinet ad eōs quī līberī nātī expositī, deinde sublātī ā quibusdam et in servitūte ēducātī sunt, saepe trāctāta est, nec quicquam invenītur in commentāriīs eōrum prīncipum, quī ante mē fuērunt, quod ad omnēs prōvinciās sit cōnstitūtum.That question, which concerns those who were born free, exposed, and then taken up by certain people and brought up in slavery, has often been discussed, and nothing is found in the records of the emperors before me which was laid down for all the provinces. Ep. 10.66.2Epistulae sānē sunt Domitiānī ad Avidium Nigrīnum et Armenium Brocchum, quae fortasse dēbeant observārī: sed inter eās prōvinciās, dē quibus rescrīpsit, nōn est Bīthȳnia;There are indeed letters of Domitian to Avidius Nigrinus and Armenius Brocchus which perhaps ought to be observed: but among the provinces about which he wrote back Bithynia is not included; Ep. 10.66.2et ideō nec assertiōnem dēnegandam iīs quī ex eius modī causā in lībertātem vindicābuntur putō, neque ipsam lībertātem redimendam pretiō alimentōrum.and therefore I think that a claim to freedom should not be denied to those who will be claimed as free on grounds of this kind, nor should their freedom itself have to be bought back by paying for their maintenance.
Lectitō › Pliny the Younger › Letters, Book 10 › Pliny, Letter 10.66
Pliny · Epistulae X
Pliny, Letter 10.66
Trajan rules on foundlings
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Latin vocabulary for this passage (54 words)
| quaestiō, -ōnis f. | inquiry, examination |
| iste, ista, istud, dem. pron. | that of yours, that |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| pertineō, -ēre, -uī | extend, reach; tend toward, concern |
| ad, prep. with acc. | to, toward; at, near; for |
| is, ea, id, dem. pron. | this, that; he, she, it, they |
| līber, lībera, līberum | free |
| nāscor, -ī, nātus sum | be born; rise, begin |
| expōnō, -pōnere, -posuī, -positus | put out, set forth; put on shore, land; explain |
| deinde, adv. | then, next |
| tollō, tollere, sustulī, sublātus | lift, raise; take away, remove; ancorās tollere, to weigh anchor |
| ā, ab (prep. + abl.) | away from, from; by (ā only before consonants) |
| quīdam, quaedam, quoddam, indef. pron. | a certain, certain |
| et, conj. | and; et ... et, both ... and |
| in, prep. with acc. and abl. | with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on |
| servitūs, -tūtis, f. | slavery, servitude |
| ēducō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | bring up, rear, raise (children) |
| sum, esse, fuī, futūrus | be |
| saepe, adv. | often, frequently |
| trāctō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | handle, touch, feel |
| neque or nec, conj. | and not, nor; neque ... neque, neither ... nor; neque enim, for ... not |
| quisquam, quicquam, indef. pron. | any one, anything |
| inveniō, -venīre, -vēnī, -ventus | come upon, find |
| commentārius, -ī m. | notebook, record; (pl.) memoirs, a commentary (Caesar's own account of his campaigns) |
| prīnceps, -ipis | first, chief; as noun: leader |
| ante, prep, with acc. and adv. | before |
| ego, meī, pers. pron. | I |
| omnis, -e | all, every |
| prōvincia, -ae f. | province; here, the Roman Province in southern Gaul |
| cōnstituō, -stituere, -stituī, -stitūtus | set together or up; appoint; determine |
| epistula, -ae f. | letter |
| sānē, adv. | certainly, by all means; very |
| Armenius, -a, -um | Armenian; as noun, an Armenian; pl. the Armenians |
| fortasse (adv.) | perhaps |
| dēbeō, -ēre, -uī, -itus | owe; with infin., ought |
| observō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum | watch; keep, respect |
| sed, conj. | but |
| inter, prep, with acc. | among, between |
| dē, prep, with abl. | down from, from, out of; about, concerning, of |
| rescrībō, -ere, -scrīpsī, -scrīptum | write again; transfer, enrol (in another unit) |
| nōn, adv. | not |
| ideō (adv.) | for that reason, therefore |
| assertiō, -ōnis f. | formal claim (to free status) |
| dēnegō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum | refuse |
| ex, ē (prep. + abl.) | out of, from; of (ē only before consonants) |
| modus, -ī, m. | way, manner |
| causa, -ae, f. | cause, reason; abl. causā, for the sake of |
| lībertās, -tātis, f. | freedom, liberty |
| vindicō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum | punish; claim |
| putō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus | think |
| ipse, ipsa, ipsum, intensive pron. | self, himself, herself, itself, themselves; often to be rendered by very |
| redimō, -ere, -ēmī, -ēmptum | buy up; buy back |
| pretium, -ī, n. | price, charge |
| alimentum, -ī n. | food, nourishment |
Pliny, Epistulae X. Latin text: the Perseus digital text of Pliny's Letters, public domain; digital text from the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA. Word analysis: drafted by our own tagger (trained on the hand-checked texts on this site), with every doubtful word checked by hand. English translation and section titles: written for this app, each checked against the Latin by a second reader.